Tag Archives: Egypt

The internet has come to be known as a convenience tool, it is used for work, academic research and various personal gains. Since becoming increasingly popular the internet has truly changed society and made it what many may now term a necessity; in other words it has become a way of life for us.

Of course, is my first response, after all it not like water and food that we can’t live without. What we need to ask ourselves are, do we want to live without the Internet?

I don’t suffer from pre-Internet nostalgia, but I do believe it can be done. For a week? Absolutely. A month? Sure.

I initial link the idea a few years back to 2004 when our tropical island Jamaica was devastated by a category four hurricane and the power went for several months because our light & power company had suffer extreme damages; power lines and were down. The first day was fine and fun, the second day we were flipping light switches and trying to do everything. Of course you could well imagined how we all were fuming because of all the work we ‘could’ get done if we could just get power and eventually online! Experiencing this first-hand its perhaps fair to say that the internet has come to play a crucial role in my life.

Image via CrunchBase

But what exactly do we mean by the “Internet”. Like “technology” the term “Internet” has been misused. Arguable so because we have come to associate the internet solely with the World Wide Web (www) and as such ignore the other services outside of email, & social networking that it provides such as normal telephone calls. The reality of this was recently observed in the Middle East where Egyptians organised a pro-democracy protest against President Hosni Mubarak and the government in response brough the entire City to a standstill just by flicking a “kill switch”. The move by the government not only saw Facebook, blogs, but telephone, fax, TV, radio and all form of electronic communication inaccessible. Almost nothing could be done.

I known I had said I wasn’t pre-Internet nostalgic, if fact I never grew up in the era where internet wasn’t present. I too like many of my peers can tell you that we remember dial up internet and NetCards (a card that would be used for credit through a dial-up port for internet), even though I never had the service home, I certainly had access to it, all of this was of course before fibre optic system, WIFI service and now portable internet. With all the advancement with the internet it would be good to see some amount of return to the old days when we communicated face to face, and mailed hand written letters or even have penpals, and we all looked forward to visiting the local library. Even so I don’t think I would want to return to the days before electricity, telephones, not to mention cell phones, automobiles, paved roads, supermarkets, refrigerators, and stoves. Don’t get me wrong speaking with my Grandparents and other elders who grew up in these time I’m marvel at their stories, some or fun and others are down right not what I want.

I guess, all of this has to do with the web call the internet that I have become entangled in, which tempts me with more time for leisure and to make more money; not that I can without also amassing inflation.

The most and only consistent thing in life is change. It therefore goes to say that life as we know it has no turning back. However, to perhaps teach us a lesson and to get some level of appreciation for what we have a little disconnect now and then would help. Furthermore, a little disconnection every now and then will help us to appreciate other things in life, when we don’t.